When we were still in the planning stage of the party, I saw these mustache cookie cutters and thought how CUTE mustache cookies would be. But my practical side of me kept saying: "When would you use that cookie cutter again? Mustache cookies at Christmas? Or maybe for every guys' birthday you know? No, probably not. Don't buy it."

So I didn't. But I really, really liked the idea.

And then, light bub! {Don't you love when they light up all unexpected like?!}

Why couldn't I take the cake concept and use it on a cookie?

So, as a secret surprise, I set out to make mustache cookies {sans a cookie cutter} that we could put in the goodie bags.

There may be better ways to do this, but this is what worked best for me with what I had on hand.

The directions on this particular brand suggested you cut them into 1/2" thick slices. Do not do this. I quickly discovered this is much too much dough. Go with probably 1/4". I didn't measure. Just sliced. Sorry.

I kept my slices in the refrigerator to keep them stiff. If you've ever used this dough before, you probably know it will get sticky and difficult to work with. I also used a piece of parchment so when the dough did get a little sticky, it wouldn't stick to the work surface.

Once I realized the thicker slices wouldn't make good mustaches {baked up too fat}, I rolled my slices thinner, which also helped to make them more of a circle shape, since the package ended up like a oval combined with a rectangle. {Not sure what you would call that, rectoval? Ovangle? Anyhoo...} After I rolled the dough slightly thinner, I used a knife to reinforce the circle shape.

I used the same knife to cut out the mustache shapes. This is where all that doodling in junior high comes in. You remember. The yin-yang? I had that thing drawn on everything! Notebooks, folders, backpacks....everywhere. Ugh. And I was so good at it, ha ha. But that was like, 15 years ago, so my yin-yang skills were slow to return. Not quite like riding a bike. But thankfully I didn't need the training wheels.

So you draw your yin-yang, then separate the two pieces. You'll have to flip one of the over to get your mustache shape.

The join them together in the middle by just mushing a little.

My cookies weren't perfect, nor uniform, like they would have been had I used a cutter. But I think maybe that made them funner.

One side a little bushier than the other.

Or one curl a little curlier than the other.

I baked them according to the package directions, although I did keep an eye on them time-wise since they were thinner than the package recommended. Once they were cooled, it was time to frost.

I found a great sugar cookie frosting that tastes so good {my hubby compared it to the chocolate donut frosting}, hardens quickly and only takes 4 {or 5, in this case} ingredients: powdered sugar {2 cups}, milk {added by the tablespoon as needed}, light syrup {1 Tbsp}, vanilla extract {or almond}{1 tsp} and cocoa {1/2 cup}.

I filled my piping bag and used a plain tip to pipe the 'stache.

So cute!

And really yummy!

Once the icing had hardened, into a plastic bag they went, then into the goodie bags. Unfortunately, I had made more cookies than bags, so we had leftovers. Ok, so, not so much unfortunate. Well, for my diet it was ha ha!

Ah, the perks of a do-it-all party planner, ha ha ha ha!

Hope you found a little inspiration with this easy-peasy yummy project.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Since my husband and I have yet to be blessed with any kiddos of our own, my two young nephews are "reaping the benefits." It all started three years ago when Matthew turned one and I created his birthday invitations. I think that may have actually been my first invitation design, besides our wedding invites. Each year after, I created the invites, and branched a little more into the party details, but still mainly left that up to the parents.

When it was announced that Zachary would be joining the family, I knew I wanted to throw a baby shower, and that was full on party planning. I loved it! And when I think about it, I'm sure I got that trait from my Grannie {have I mentioned that before?}. When my brother and I were little, she would throw us the most awesomest birthday parties, themed out from food, games, decor and dress. Yes, dress. {There will be no picture sharing as part of TBT, ha ha. They may have been fun....but, you know...}

I was asked again this year to do the invites for the birthday boy, and between the three of us {Tiff {mom}, Matthew and me}, a party theme was decided upon: mustache.

I started with the invitations. I wanted to do something very different than what I've done in the past: use type as my graphics, rather than graphics. Of course, I had to add in a mustache here and there, but I wanted it to be mostly about text manipulation and coordination--a lot of which is translated from my classes. {None of that "When will I use this in life?" like in my calculus class, ha ha!}

I used orange as my base color, since that is Matthew's favorite color...this month. Apparently, it changes. Thankfully, it didn't from conception to print. But I quickly realized we had an orange and black thing going, and since we are in June, not October, I decided to add in a little blue accent to break it up. Which I later realized was VERY close to my alma mater's colors {Go Roadrunners!}, and I swear! It was not intentional. (; Hey, just steering him in the right direction while he's young. he he he...

ANYhoo...

We started putting ideas together on Pinterest and quickly decided on a few musts: a mustache cake, photo booth, goodie bags, and a face banner. The other ideas came as we put the party together, and I think what we ended up with just might be one of the cutest birthday parties for a four-year-old there is. (:

First the birthday boy needed a special shirt. We saw this online and knew we could recreate it ourselves. He had so much fun "revealing" his 'stache.

Because there was so much fun to be had, I thought I would help out our guests with a "rule board" to greet them at the party. To help get them into the mustache spirit.

*QUICK TIP*

If you need a quick, cheap chalkboard, or chalkboard-like surface, black foamboard works nicely.

I couldn't find a backdrop I liked for the photo booth, so I used a black project board and again, embellished it with chalk. Works very nicely as a quick chalkboard!

The face banner was so much fun! He looked so cute in all his 'staches and it was a great way to personalize the party.

I created quick and easy subway art by using scrapbook paper {just like at Christmas}. Flanking the cake, it was that extra little something.

You can find more on the mustache cakehere. We actually did our cake as a double-layered cake {instead of a single layer like the pin}, baking two 9-inch cakes, then cutting them together so they both had the exact same shape.

We made the cupcake toppers with a punch and stamp so it perfectly coordinated with the colors. It was a good thing we had the cake and cupcakes. Once Matthew blew out his candles, and cake was served, the cupcakes mysteriously disappeared. By tiny little mouths! The adults never stood a chance. All we got was 'stache cake. Which was still yummy. But I really wanted a cupcake. They were the confetti kind! {tear}

And, of course, what's a party without games.

"Pin the mustache on Matthew."

"Draw your own mustache." I would be a horrible friend and family member if I posted pictures of said drawn mustaches, but I'll tell you, it was awesome. Even my dad, who is a quiet farmer/rancher, got his 'stache on. And I'm talking one of those thin, curly French things. Again, I'm sorry I can't post pics!

And, I'm pretty sure, the favorite of the day: "Shave the balloon without popping it."

We actually did this one two ways. The little kids were given wood "razors": two popsicle sticks glued together in a T-shape like a razor. Their goal was to shave the fastest, since their razors probably weren't going to pop the balloons.

The older kids were given plastic knifes to shave with. They had to shave the fastest without popping. We did have a couple of balloon casualties.

And of course, with every "shave the balloon" event must come a shaving cream fight. The best part was the parents joining in. You are never too old for a shaving cream fight.

The goodie bags were just your standard brown paper lunch sack that I printed with the graphics on my home ink jet. Super easy!

This was so much fun to plan and to decorate for, but the party itself was lots of fun. Everyone was in the mustache mood and let go and had fun, and that's really what it's all about. It was great seeing nothing but kids at the party--with all the adults letting their inner child come out to play.

Now, I've got to get my head into a new party theme: sock monkey! This will be for a very special little boy who is about to celebrate his first year! My goodness, time does fly.

After that, I've got another big party to plan, and this one is more adult geared, but don't worry. He's a big kid at heart so be prepared for a little whimsy.

WHAT I PIN

INSTA-ME

DISCLAIMER

I'm so very glad you stopped by, and I hope you take a look around, and maybe find a bit of inspiration. But I do ask that you not use my photos without my permission. And I'd love for you to pin your little heart away any inspiration you may find here as well, but I just ask that you not pin any images featuring my family and friends. I share my personal photos with you, but ask that you not share them with the Pinterest world. Thanks so much!